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This guide describes the most effective methods to train the Thieving skill. Thieving is a support skill which involves using techniques such as pickpocketing, coshing and lock picking to steal items and to gain access to restricted areas. As players level up the Thieving skill they gain the ability to thieve from NPCs and scenery which award greater amounts of experience when they are successfully stolen from. Levelling up Thieving also decreases player's chance of failing during thieving activities where there is a chance of being unsuccessful. The experience rate estimates in this guide do not incorporate the use of any experience boosting items or bonus experience.

Different tiers of Ardougne cloak are awarded on completion of the easy, medium, hard and elite sets of Ardougne tasks. While an Ardougne cloak 3 or 4 is worn it increases the player's chance of success when pickpocketing NPCs anywhere in RuneScape.

Gloves of silence increase players' success rate while pickpocketing by 5% while they are equipped. A Hunter level of at least 54 is needed in order to wear the gloves. Gloves of silence can be bought from the Grand Exchange for 1,006 each or created at the Fancy Clothes Store in Varrock from 2 dark kebbit furs for a cost of 600. Gloves of silence are damaged each time that the player is unsuccessful in a pickpocketing attempt and they are destroyed after 62 failures, if counted from when they are new. If a player has multiple gloves of silence then they will all display the same status when their condition is checked. However, if the gloves of silence currently being used do fall apart, then any other pairs that the player owns are reset to the “new” condition. The condition of the gloves are only relevant to the player owning them, and are not a property of the gloves themselves. Players with at least level 64 Crafting can restore their gloves of silence to “new” condition by using 1 dark kebbit fur, costing 33, and thread, costing 17, on the gloves.

Wearing components of the black ibis outfit gives a percentage increase in the amount of base experience that is gained while thieving. There are four pieces in the set: the black ibis mask, black ibis body, black ibis legs, and black ibis boots. Items from the outfit can rarely be found while looting urns and sarcophagi within the Pyramid Plunder minigame. The chance of finding a piece of the black ibis outfit is increased if the player is wielding a sceptre of the gods. The sceptre of the gods is obtained as a rare reward from looting the engraved sarcophagus in the final room of the minigame. The engraved sarcophagus requires level 91 Thieving to access and 75 Runecrafting to open. If all pieces of the outfit are worn, then an additional set bonus effect is given.

25% chance of avoiding being stunned and damaged following an unsuccessful pickpocketing attempt.

25% chance of avoiding being bitten by a snake during an unsuccessful attempt to loot an urn at Pyramid Plunder.

If the player owns pieces of the black ibis outfit, then they will receive their increased base experience effects while wearing the exoskeleton set.

If the player has at least level 75 Thieving and level 75 Hunter, then they will gain a 5% increased chance of success when pickpocketing with the exoskeleton bracers equipped (this effect is equivalent to that given by equipping gloves of silence, so it is recommended that players use the bracers instead of gloves of silence if they are able to do so).

There are 2 Summoningfamiliars available which can be used to give a temporary visible boost to a player's Thieving level if their special move scroll is used while they are summoned. This can be used to allow the player to access content which they do not currently have the required level for as well as giving a slight improvement in thieving success rate.

Five-finger discount auras increase a player's chance of thieving successfully by a percentage while they are activated. These auras' effects last for one hour after they are activated. Players may use 5 or 10 vis wax to extend a five-finger discount aura's activation time by 50% or 100% (costing 30,285 or 60,570) once per day. This effect must be applied before the aura is activated. Once a five finger discount aura has been used the player must wait 3 hours before using it again. Five-finger discount auras can be bought using Membership loyalty points. All lower tiers of the aura must be owned before a higher tier aura can be purchased.

Continue thieving from coshing volunteers for up 156,500 experience an hour at level 81 Thieving.Start playing Pyramid Plunder at level 81 Thieving; this gives around 157,500 experience an hour with level 81 Thieving.Players may wish to begin training at Pyramid Plunder from level 71 onwards; this gives between 99,500 and 118,000 experience an hour with level 71-81 Thieving.

90-96

Dwarf traders

Up to 256,500 experience an hour with level 99 Thieving.

Continue thieving from monkey knife fighters.Continue playing Pyramid Plunder, which gives up to 195,000 experience an hour at level 99 Thieving.

Players should begin their Thieving training by pickpocketing pompous merchants. Around 6,000 experience an hour can be gained from this method with level 1-5 Thieving. However, as only 388 experience is needed to achieve level 5 Thieving, players with no previous experience of the skill should achieve level 5 in approximately 4 minutes. Pompous merchants are found in Taverley, just east of the lodestone. Players will gain a few coins each time that they successfully pickpocket a merchant but will lose some life points and be stunned for several seconds if their pickpocketing attempt is unsuccessful.

At level 5 Thieving players can begin stealing from bakery stalls to gain approximately 11,000 experience an hour. As only 2,300 experience is needed to reach level 15 Thieving it should take players around 11 minutes to reach level 15 Thieving. Bakery stalls can be found at the East Ardougne market or within Taverley marketplace. Players should stand on the opposite side of the bakery stall to any market guards or guards present in the area; otherwise these NPCs will attack the player when they attempt to steal from the stall. Providing players are not spotted by the guards, attempts to steal from the stalls are always successful and result in the player gaining items including cakes, bread and chocolate bars. After an item has been stolen from the stall, the player must wait 3 seconds in order for the shop stall's stock to respawn before they can steal from the stall again.

With at least level 15 Thieving players should start training by opening doors in the practice chest area of the Thieves' Guild. To access this area of the Thieves' Guild the player must have completed the Buyers and Cellars quest. The practice chest area is located south-west of the main training room within the guild; it is composed of 6 jail cells containing practice chests. Players should train their Thieving by opening the jail cell doors within this area. Once a door has been opened it will remain open for around 5.5 minutes, so players should change worlds (using the “join” option on any player added to their friends list or the “hop worlds” option in the options menu) to find a world where the doors are closed after having opened all the doors on their current world.

With level 15 Thieving players will only be able to open the 3 doors on the northern side of the corridor. At level 35 Thieving players will also be able to open the 3 doors on the southern side of the corridor. A lock pick is required in order to open the doors on the southern side of the corridor. Between levels 15 and 35 Thieving players can gain approximately 61,000 experience an hour using this method. With level 35-41 Thieving players can gain around 82,500 experience an hour, opening all the doors in the practice chest area.

To thieve from coshing volunteers a rubber blackjack must be equipped. To begin coshing, use the “lure” right-click option on any coshing volunteer to distract his attention. Once a volunteer has been lured they will follow the player for a short period of time, so it is recommended that the player firstly lures the volunteer to a spot where the NPC cannot move away, such as behind the door of the room containing Dodgy Derek, in order to make it easier to thieve from the volunteer. After luring the volunteer the player should use the right-click “knock out” option. If the player succeeds in knocking the coshing volunteer unconscious then they can use the right-click “pickpocket” option up to 3 times to gain Thieving experience before the volunteer regains consciousness. Players will also receive hanky points which can be exchanged for Thieving experience once per week. If the player fails to knock-out the coshing volunteer then they will be dealt 1 damage and be stunned for several seconds, during which they will be unable to interact with the coshing volunteer. Players should hold down their space bar while thieving from coshing volunteers, as this will skip the dialogue that takes place between the player and coshing volunteer while the player is luring the volunteer and speed up training.

Players may wish to continue to train Thieving by opening the doors in the practice chest area at the Thieves' Guild, as a less intensive alternative to training on coshing volunteers. This can give up to around 99,000 experience an hour at level 70 Thieving.

Players can begin training at monkey knife fighters with level 70 Thieving. Thieving from monkey knife fighters can give up to around 240,000 experience an hour at level 99 Thieving. Monkey knife fighters are found in the building just west of Ape Atoll prison on Ape Atoll, and so completion of the Do No Evil quest is required in order to access them. Additionally players need to have a gorilla greegree or bearded gorilla greegree equipped in order to thieve from the monkeys.

After equipping the correct greegree, players can use the right-click “punch” option on a monkey knife fighter to knock it out. If the player is successful in knocking out the monkey knife fighter then they will be able to use the “pickpocket” right-click option to thieve from the monkey up to 2 times before it regains consciousness. Upon successfully thieving from a monkey knife fighter the player will receive Thieving experience and can receive items including coins, cooked lobsters, main-hand and off-hand black knives or mithril-dragon scimitars. Failing to knock out a monkey unconscious, or trying to pickpocket from one while it is conscious, will result in the player being hit for 60 damage and being stunned for a few seconds. If the player is unsuccessful in attempting to knock out a monkey knife fighter 3 times in a row then they will be removed to the Ape Atoll prison. There is also a 1/5 chance that the player will be sent to the prison if they pickpocket from a monkey while it is conscious.

Players who wish to gain experience quickly but who are unable to access Ape Atoll should continue training at coshing volunteers until level 81 Thieving. Thieving from coshing volunteers can give up to around 156,500 experience an hour with level 81 Thieving.

At level 81 Thieving players can start training at Pyramid Plunder to gain around 157,500 experience an hour, slightly more than that which can be gained from training at coshing volunteers. Pyramid Plunder is a minigame which involves navigating through a series of chambers in order to loot from urns to gain items and Thieving experience. To start the minigame the player must locate the guardian mummy, who is found randomly within one of four possible entrances to the Jalsavrah Pyramid (which is found just south of the entrance to Sophanem). It is highly recommended that the player uses a pharaoh's sceptre, which can be bought from the Grand Exchange for 2,131,317, to teleport directly to the guardian mummy, using the “Jalsavrah” teleport option. If the player does not use a pharaoh's sceptre to travel to Pyramid Plunder then they will need to have started the Icthlarin's Little Helper quest in order to enter Sophanem.

Use the right-click “start minigame” option on the guardian mummy to enter Pyramid Plunder. An interface showing a 5 minute timer will be displayed; during this time the player can travel through up to 8 possible chambers. Each subsequent chamber requires a greater Thieving level to enter and contains urns and sarcophagi which award greater amounts of Thieving experience upon being looted successfully. Players should aim to travel to and loot the contents of the highest and second-highest level chambers that they can access. With level 81 Thieving this will be chambers 7 and 6.

A spear trap

A tomb door

Each chamber contains the same obstacles. Firstly, in order to enter the chamber, the player must pass a spear trap by clicking on the part of the trap which is nearest to them to deactivate it. Once inside the chamber the player should attempt to enter each of the chamber's 4 tomb doors in turn until they are transported to the next chamber. Only one of the tomb doors can lead the player to the next chamber at any one time, with the other 3 being dead ends and the location of the correct tomb door changing randomly. Players may wish to play Pyramid Plunder on the unofficial Pyramid Plunder world, world 64. As the location of the correct tomb door is the same for all players until the tomb doors reset, the presence of other players can be helpful in quickly determining the correct tomb door's location. However, as tomb doors reset each time that a player joins Pyramid Plunder, the presence of other players can also be unhelpful as it causes tomb doors to reset more frequently.

Urns

Upon reaching chamber 6 the player should loot as many urns as possible while ensuring that they leave enough time to loot all of the urns in chamber 7. As well as Thieving experience, players will also receive artefacts which can be sold on the Grand Exchange, traded to Simon Templeton or used to recharge a pharaoh's sceptre. A ring of wealth can be worn to increase the chance of receiving more valuable artefacts. Players also have a rare chance of obtaining pieces of the black ibis outfit while looting urns. A pharaoh's sceptre may also be rarely obtained while looting grand gold chests and sarcophagi. However it is recommended that players open urns only if they are aiming to gain the best possible experience rates per hour, as opening grand gold chests and sarcophagi gives less experience than opening urns and has a chance of spawning scarab swarms and mummies which are aggressive to players. If a player obtains a pharaoh's sceptre then they will be removed from the minigame, regardless of the time remaining on their timer. Failing to loot an urn results in the player being damaged by a snake contained within the urn. Players with low Constitution levels may wish to bring food or teleport to a bank between games in order to heal themselves. An anti-poison totem or antipoison potions may also be useful, as there is a chance of being poisoned during a failed looting attempt.

Players may wish to begin training at Pyramid Plunder at level 71 as a less intensive alternative to training at coshing volunteers or monkey knife fighters. With level 71-80 Thieving, training at Pyramid Plunder gives more experience an hour than training by opening Thieves' Guild doors but less experience an hour than training at coshing volunteers. With these levels training at Pyramid Plunder gives between 99,500 experience an hour, with level 71 Thieving, and 118,000 experience an hour, with level 80 Thieving. With level 71-81 Thieving players should thieve from urns in chambers 6 and 5 of Pyramid Plunder.

With at least level 90 Thieving players can pickpocket from dwarf traders at the Trade Octagon in Keldagrim. Because of the high rate of failure when pickpocketing from traders, players should only train at them if they are able to at least use the Trahaearn exoskeleton outfit to avoid being stunned as frequently upon failing a pickpocket. Use of other items and summoning familiars to improve pickpocket success rate is also highly beneficial. Players can obtain around 256,500 experience an hour at dwarf traders if they are using an exoskeleton outfit with level 99 Thieving.

It is recommended that players thieve from the trader wearing a yellow located near a lamp on the northern side of the Trade Octagon, as this trader always stands on the same spot, allowing for easier thieving. Simply click on the trader to pickpocket from them. Upon successfully thieving from the trader the player will receive Thieving experience and items including bronze-rune bars, copper/tin-rune ores, harvest heaven seeds, coins, hard clue scrolls, court summons and crystal triskelion fragments. When the player is unsuccessful in pickpocketing from a trader they will be dealt 10 damage and be stunned for several seconds. They will also be attacked by a trade floor guard if there is one in the area and will be unable to continue thieving while they are engaged in combat with the guard.

To avoid having training interrupted by the guards, players should trap the guards in the buildings surrounding the Trade Octagon. The Trade Octagon contains 8 floor guards. Attack the 4 guards on the northern side of the area and lead them to building in the north western corner of the Trade Octagon. Once all 4 guards are inside the building step just outside the building's doorway and close the door in order to shut the guards inside the building. Repeat this process with the 4 guards on the southern side of the area after luring them into the south-eastern building in the area. Players may find it helpful to play on the unofficial dwarf traders world, world 48 - if they have the 2400 total level required to access this world, as the presence of other players who may be luring or killing trade floor guards can reduce the player's likeliness of having to deal with the guards.

Players who are unable to use a Trahaearn exoskeleton set or items to improve success rate while thieving from traders should continue training at monkey knife fighters.

For a less intensive option players can continue playing Pyramid Plunder. Players can loot from rooms 8 and 7 with at least level 91 Thieving and gain up to around 195,000 experience an hour training at Pyramid Plunder at level 99 Thieving.

Players should begin training at elven clan workers at around level 96 Thieving. 8 different types of elven clan workers are found in Prifddinas; with each clan's district containing a different kind of worker. Completion of the Plague's End quest is required in order to access Prifddinas. To thieve from a clan worker simply click on the worker: the player's character will continually pickpocket the worker until they are caught. Upon first being caught by a worker, the player will receive the first of 3 strikes. The clan workers' suspiciousness towards the player, and the player's likelihood of being caught in future by the clan workers, will be increased. The player will also be unable to pickpocket from the worker that they were caught by again (as indicated by a no pickpocketing icon () that will be displayed above the worker). The player can still thieve from any other worker within the clan until they are caught for a second time. The clan's suspicious, and the chance of the player being caught while pickpocketing within the clan, will be further increased. The player will now be unable to pickpocket from both the first and second workers that they were caught by. After being caught for a third time, the player will receive the last of 3 strikes and will be unable to pickpocket from any of the clan's workers for 20 minutes. A message in the player's chatbox will notify them when a clan has forgotten about the player's pickpocketing. While successfully pickpocketing from an elven clan worker the player can receive items including coins, hard and elite clue scrolls, crystal motherlode shards, Prifddinian musician's robes pieces, crystal triskelion fragments, crystal acorns, clan symbol pieces and brawling gloves and items related to the skills favoured by the particular clan.

The Thieving level required to pickpocket from an elven clan worker varies from level 91 to 98 Thieving, depending on the clan that the worker belongs to. As it typically takes around 4 minutes to reach 3/3 strikes for a particular clan, it is recommended that players do not begin training Thieving on elven clan workers until around level 96 Thieving. At this level players will be able to access 6 out of the 8 possible clans, meaning that they should be able to continuously train Thieving by rotating through different districts within Prifddinas during the 20 minute waits for previous clans to forget about their pickpocketing.

To gain the most Thieving experience per hour players should prioritise thieving from elven clan workers within the 2 districts that are currently affected by the Voice of Seren as often as possible, as base experience obtained from pickpocketing clan's workers is increased by 20% while the Voice of Seren is active. In between thieving from these clans, the player should thieve from the other clans that they are able to access in order of descending level requirement, as elven clan workers with a higher Thieving level requirement award more thieving experience per successful pickpocket. Crystal teleport seeds can be useful for teleporting between districts. It is possible to gain around 373,000 experience an hour by pickpocketing from elven clan workers while wearing a Trahaearn exoskeleton set at level 99 Thieving (with Meilyr and Ithell clans being affected by the Voice of Seren). The amount of experience that can be gained per hour while thieving from elven clan workers will be dependent on which clans are currently affected by the Voice of Seren, as well as the player's ability to access clans which give greater amount of Thieving experience upon successful pickpocketing.

Players can do a Thieving performance at the circus Distraction and Diversion once per week if they have completed the Some Like It Cold quest. To enter the circus the player must gain a circus ticket from the ticket vendor, which is randomly located in one of 12 possible places each week. Players can start their Thieving performance by standing on the star next to Teddy.

During the performance players have 5 attempts to perform up to 5 different tricks. Thieving experience is received upon the first successful attempt of each trick that the player performs: repeating a trick more than once does not grant additional experience. Each trick has a recommended Thieving level to attempt; however this level is not required in order to perform the trick, as it is possible to successfully perform or fail to perform a trick at any Thieving level. It may take several attempts for a trick is successfully performed. However, when a player performs a trick that has a higher recommended Thieving level than they currently have, the experience received will be the same as that given for performing a trick with half the recommended Thieving level, rounded down.

To gain the most experience from the Thieving performance players should begin by performing the highest recommended level trick for their current Thieving level, and work down to the trick with a recommended level half of their current Thieving level. After this players should perform any tricks with a recommended Thieving level which is greater than their current Thieving level and then finally perform any tricks with a recommended level of less than half of their current Thieving level. The Distraction and Diversion's interface will display the recommended Thieving level for the performance's tricks, as well as showing which tricks the player has performed successfully. Players can receive a total of 14,260 experience, in about 45 seconds, if they successfully perform all 5 tricks with level 90 or more Thieving.